Pentedattilo, Calabria

That evening, the rock formation looked like a closed hand against the sky.

I stood on the hill with the cliff ahead of me. Wasps moved around the prickly pear plants. Some fruit had split open in the heat. The smell was sweet and spoiled.

The sun went down behind the hills. Shadows filled the doorways of the abandoned village. The bell tower pointed to the place where the Alberti castle had once stood.

I thought about what happened here.

Easter night, 1686. Bernardino Abenavoli, Baron of Montebello, led his men up the slopes. He had been refused permission to marry Antonia Alberti. By morning, the Alberti fortress was destroyed. The doors stood open and were covered in blood. Lorenzo, Marquis of Pentedattilo, and most of his family were dead. Antonia survived. She was taken into exile.

It is probably because of this incident that even today, when locals mention the cliff, they call it the Devil’s Hand.